Jewellery designer Ana Stuart's Laragh home includes a guest-house, studio and Mediterranean -style swimming pool, writes Bernice Harrison
TO GET A handle on what's on offer at Clóran in Co Wicklow, it's probably better to think compound instead of country house.
The seven-acre property just outside Laragh village is the home of jewellery designer Ana Stuart who moved there 36 years ago and began a massive project of turning a collection of old buildings into a place where her family could live. Now Clóran is made up of several buildings set in a series of stunning, atmospheric gardens.
There's a pretty main house with four bedrooms; a two-bedroom A-frame guesthouse, a two-room studio with a mezzanine, and a two-storey sauna wooden chalet. And because of the extensive use of reclaimed timber, stone and slate, as well as ancient granite flagstones for patios and pathways, it looks as though the buildings have been there for a century or so. There's also a large barn used as another studio, as well as an outdoor swimming pool with pool house and a hard tennis court complete with floodlights.
The main house, a pretty cottage, is laid out as two wings linked by an ornate timber and glass Norman Pratt atrium. There are three large bedrooms all with en suites, as well as a family bathroom upstairs in one wing. Two of the bedrooms open out into the garden.
On the other side of the granite- floored atrium is the living area made up mainly of two large interconnecting rooms with beamed ceilings made of reclaimed timber. One of the rooms is the kitchen with Aga, custom-built units topped with pink marble and a timber floor. This opens into a bright livingroom with arched windows, doors to the garden and an impressive open fire with granite surround. Also in this wing, down a couple of steps is a cosy library, a utility and another room that could be a fourth bedroom if needed. Such is the cool style of the place it's easy to see why it has appeared in several interiors magazines including House Garden.
Beyond the main house, past a large circular herb and vegetable garden, is the A-frame guesthouse which has two main rooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs.
Dotted throughout the lush and colourful gardens, which are full of unusual and interesting plants and trees, are water features and ponds. Granite archways and meandering paths add to the old world atmosphere.
At various vantage points there are stunning views over the surrounding countryside and the entire place is hidden away, well off the main road.
It would suit an artist who needs peace and quiet and a lot of space for their work or would make a fantastic holiday retreat for a large, multi-generational family.
The agent, Frank Knight, is asking for €3.3 million - a strong price usually attached to Georgian piles rather than something as individualistic as this property.
